Mit Volldampf nach Chicago

As much as I love trains, I couldn't stomach this movie. The premise that one could steal a locomotive and "drive" from Arkansas to Chicago without hitting another train along the way has to be right up there on the Impossible Plot lines hit board. Imagine two disgruntled NASA employees stealing the "crawler" that totes the shuttles to and fro and driving it to New York and you get the idea.

Having said all that, it's a nice try. Wilford Brimely is at his Quaker Oats best, and Levon Helm turns a good performance as his dimwitted but well-meaning sidekick. Bob Balaban is suitably wormy as the Corporate Guy, and the "little guy takes on Goliath" story gets another airing.

This popped up on YouTube, so I looked it up on IMDb. It was classed as a comedy and I saw that Wilford Brimley was a major character. I enjoy most of the parts he played. So I found it on a free streaming service and enjoyed the video. It had a few time jumps but they were understanable for time restraints in a video (movie). And of course, an opportunity for pleasant new beginning. It was not time wasted for me. There was strong expressions for love for The United States of America, and encouragement to be thankful for what one has. Also gave encouragement for people to choose their own path an not always let others make all your decisions.

A friend at work loaned me this movie because he knows I'm nuts about trains. The plot synopsis, of driving a locomotive from Arkansas to Chicago, seemed too silly and unrealistic, to the point where I wasn't sure I would enjoy the movie. You know, like Karen Black flying a 747.

Fortunately there was a good explanation for how they managed to get the locomotive to Chicago, so I could relax and enjoy some really nice character studies and a fairly decent yarn. The life of folks who live in double-wides was told with a great deal of sympathy and understanding, without being pandering or condescending. Wilford Brimley as the life-long railroad man was particularly well done, as were Barbara Barrie as his wife and Kevin Bacon as a guy with more testosterone than brains.

But any movie that features both Clint Howard and Rita Jenrette is probably not Oscar material, and neither is a movie with a plot hole in the third act big enough to drive a locomotive through. Still, I'm glad I saw the movie. It doesn't bother me at all that I'll never get the time back that I spent watching it.

This movie does not go anywere. It is not a realistic drama portraiting the poorest side of America, it is not a tale for children.

This delightful piece relates of an unscheduled jaunt aboard a locomotive "borrowed" by veteran trainmen Will Henry (Wilford Brimley) and Leo Pickett (Levon Helm) after their employer, Southland Railroad, shifts its manner of freight transport to the airlanes, resulting in the closure of a railyard in Clifford, Arkansas, with a subsequent loss to many in the small town of their livelihood. Freshman director Jay Russell, invited while attending a similarly fledgling Sundance Institute's workshop to develop his script, does so very effectively, with most of the filming taking place near his hometown of Little Rock, enabling Russell's strongly regional feeling for the South to aid him in composing a very personal, well-executed work. The locomotive is being taken by Will and Leo to Chicago, wherein the pair hope to present their grievances to the parent corporation's board chairman, and Russell formulates a recipe for some delicious humour, some satirical, during the adventure, with blessedly minimal slapstick, focussing not only upon the two railroaders but their waiting families, as well. A well-selected cast is aptly directed, with particularly strong performances from Kevin Bacon, Mary Steenburgen and Holly Hunter, the last two of whom gift the scenario with delicious comedic timing. With talented supporting players helping to make possible a successful blend of whimsy and the didactic, END OF THE LINE belies its rather low budget, assisted to a large extent by cinematographer George Tirl, who here intensifies the standard colour scale while utilizing a wide range of facial lighting to help in representing performers' thoughts.